So there's been some discussion on here regarding free speech differences betwixt countries, primarily between the U.S. and the U.K.

I just saw this recent BBC news article and thought it a fantastic example of UK speech laws in action.

...
..still unclear whether he will serve more time than the man who killed her.

Without seeing the comments in context it's hard to make a fair judgement on this case. While it's easy to say 'this is bullshit, free speech!... etc' we don't know how the comments were made and what was contained in them.

He could have been posting them on a page that her family frequent (appealing for info etc) and could have caused them psychological harm. If the title had read "Jailed for online harassment" few people would bat an eyelid.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by element4433

Yeah. people, like Lemoninfluence, are hypocrites and should have all their opinions invalidated from here on out.

There's always a line between harassment and offence, and freedom of speech does not span it.
I've done very little research into the context of his "joke", but if it was just him randomly posting it then the police should have just put the phone down on the callers. But if he was actually using it directed at people involved in the case then yes, he should definitely do time.

Without seeing the comments in context it's hard to make a fair judgement on this case. While it's easy to say 'this is bullshit, free speech!... etc' we don't know how the comments were made and what was contained in them.

He could have been posting them on a page that her family frequent (appealing for info etc) and could have caused them psychological harm. If the title had read "Jailed for online harassment" few people would bat an eyelid.

Are humans not capable of solving disputes? Unless this is ongoing harassment, or threatens the physical health of the recipient, it should be interpreted as a statement-harsh yes-but just a statement. 'Made in public' is part of the reasoning... ...so can't make harsh statements in public in Great Britain, I'll note for travel purpose

Are humans not capable of solving disputes? Unless this is ongoing harassment, or threatens the physical health of the recipient, it should be interpreted as a statement-harsh yes-but just a statement. 'Made in public' is part of the reasoning... ...so can't make harsh statements in public in Great Britain, I'll note for travel purpose

I like how you call this a 'dispute' when you don't know the content of the statement in question. It could have been a threat, it could have been harassing behaviour, it could have been a completely benign statement.

We don't know.

Most people are capable of solving disputes, but if you're going through the worst period in your life dealing with potentially having your daughter murdered, you might not be in the right frame of mind to calmly deal with some prick harassing you and mocking your daughter's death.

Also, it's funny because the court is the archetypal method of dispute resolution.

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Rhythm in Jump. Dancing Close to You.

Quote:

Originally Posted by element4433

Yeah. people, like Lemoninfluence, are hypocrites and should have all their opinions invalidated from here on out.

There's always a line between harassment and offence, and freedom of speech does not span it.

Well there is a legal distinction between the two.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkepsisMetal

I've done very little research into the context of his "joke", but if it was just him randomly posting it then the police should have just put the phone down on the callers. But if he was actually using it directed at people involved in the case then yes, he should definitely do time.

He posted it on his personal own page. He was copying it from sickipedia.

Now as far as my knowledge on harassment goes, this isn't it. Harassment is when you say or do something with the deliberate intention to cause distress to someone.
No-one directly involved in this would have been aware of anything he wrote.

Just in case I haven't made it entirely clear. I find it absolutely disgusting that he was put in jail.

Morals are subjective, and the law should not ever get involved in such a thing.